Reports: Giant Fireball Streaks Over Colorado Sky

Some Eyewitnesses Thought It Was A Falling Plane

12:25 AM, Nov 29, 2002

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Dozens of Denver's 7News viewers called the newsroom Thursday evening to report a giant fireball seen streaking across the Colorado night sky. Many of the callers all said the fireball looked as thought it crashed into the earth somewhere on the Front Range.

"It was spectacular," said Keith Cabaniss of Longmont. "I was sitting on the porch and saw it come from the east headed west to southwest. I was at the right place at the right time."

A research scientist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science confirmed that the fireball seen by many people was a meteor, according to Julia Taylor, spokeswoman for the museum. It was not immediately known if, or where, the fireball crashed into the earth.

The meteor was seen around 6:30 p.m. as far away as Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and Wyoming, according to eyewitness accounts passed to 7News.

It appeared so large that one Ken Carl resident said that she could even see the flames from the fireball.

The Poudre Fire Authority dispatch center said that the first calls about the meteor came in at 6:35 p.m. from eyewitnesses who thought that they saw a plane crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration investigated but concluded that there were no overdue planes, according to a dispatcher. A plane crash was ruled out by the FAA.

Many viewers who called 7News claimed the fireball was one of the most spectacular sights they had ever witnessed.

The flight control tower operators at Jefferson County Airport said that they saw the fireball at 6:21 p.m. and it "lit up the entire control tower." It was then seen streaking across the Continental Divide, according to an airport manager.

KRDO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Colorado Springs, said they got calls from viewers who say the meteor looked as though it touched down near Pikes Peak.

While the sightings were far and wide, the researchers at the Museum of Nature and Science would not be able to get confirmation on the meteor until Friday morning when data could be analyzed, according to Taylor.

"It was cool," said Cabaniss, one of the eyewitnesses. "It is Thanksgiving and I am thankful that I was able to see the thing."